Donald Trump on Sunday night blamed immigration for riots across France that saw a historic town hall torched, businesses ransacked and hundreds injured.
French politicians raged against far-Left agitators for ‘whipping the kids into a frenzy’ as protests led to widespread destruction.
And Emmanuel Macron vowed to hold to account those who had ‘sought to bring down the Republic’.
But as trouble spread to Milan and Lisbon on Sunday, President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: ‘France is burning!
‘The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country. Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!’
It came after Kirill Dmitriev, a liaison between Vladimir Putin and Washington, said: ‘Left-wing globalists are sowing migration-driven chaos.’
Demonstrations were started by teachers and students a month ago in response to staff shortages and have grown into a wider movement against rising prices.
They have been joined by extremist politicians and activists such as Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the hard-Left France Unbowed party.
Riots and protests are seen taking place in Marseille, France, on October 17. One rioter holds a flag which says ‘antifascist action’
A fire burns and destroys the city hall after a group of individuals forced entry into the building during ongoing protest action against the ‘high cost of living’, in Limoges
Protesters throw an object in the flames during a demonstration at Place de la Republique in Paris on October 17
President Macron blamed ‘agitators from far-Left fringe groups, joined by numerous criminals’ for plunging his country into ‘unbridled violence’. He made a plea ‘for unity’ following a weekend of chaos involving up to half-a-million protesters.
In a live TV address, Mr Macron said: ‘Looking at these images, we have all asked ourselves how French people could do this to France.
‘Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it.
‘Those who looted will have to pay back for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable.’
Jordan Bardella, the National Rally chairman, described Macron’s address as ‘pathetic’.
One of the most dramatic images was that of the historic clock tower of 140-year-old Limoges town hall crumbling in an inferno. On Sunday, the town’s mayor Guillaume Guerin took aim at extremists for ‘whipping the kids into a frenzy’.
He said: ‘Those who organise everything, who bring the battering rams, who smash the windows and identify the basement entrances in this town hall so they can get in – they are not the kids.
‘They are people who are organised to wage war.’ He added: ‘The logistics, the organisation, the premeditation behind the attack on the town hall is something I find unbearable.’
Blocking rioters from entering through a smashed door, a female protester pleaded: ‘Why are you doing this? Stop! This isn’t the cause!’ But the masked rioters smashed past her
Another defining image came from Paris where a female protester tried to stop thugs looting a grocery store.
Blocking them from entering through a smashed door, she pleaded: ‘Why are you doing this? Stop! This isn’t the cause!’ But the masked rioters smashed past her.
‘It was apocalyptic,’ a senior police commander told Sunday’s Le Parisien newspaper. ‘Law enforcement was unable to contain the multitude of simultaneous attacks across the country.’
After Mr Macron’s speech, rioters and looters returned to the streets of Paris, setting up barricades and engaging in running battles with police. ‘We are here because we want Macron to resign,’ said one. ‘The police are out to wound us, if not kill us, but we will fight back.’
Additional reporting: Tom Lawrence
